Press Play with Madeleine Brand: California case: free speech v. abortion rightsCrisis pregnancy centers are generally run by pro-life groups that aim to convince pregnant women not to get abortions. A California law requires that employees tell their clients that the state offers free and low-cost abortions and other family planning services. Now a group of these centers is arguing that the law violates their freedom of speech.

UnFictionalUnbelievably true stories of chance encounters that changed the world. A pair of mail-order shoes that led to the film The Outsiders. A secret road to a California paradise. The day LA and smog first met. Stories that will stick in your head like a memory. It’s UnFictional, hosted by Bob Carlson.

The DocumentThe Document is a new kind of mash-up between documentaries and radio. It goes beyond clips and interviews, mining great stories from the raw footage of documentaries present, past and in-progress. A new episode is available every other Wednesday on iTunes and wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

To the PointA weekly reality-check on the issues Americans care about most. Host Warren Olney draws on his decades of experience to explore the people and issues shaping – and disrupting - our world. How did everything change so fast? Where are we headed? The conversations are informal, edgy and always informative. If Warren's asking, you want to know the answer.

Peace Talks in Afghanistan: The Promise and the Reality

President Karzai's effort at reaching out to the Taliban may have failed before it began. We update this week's "peace jirga" with 1600 tribal leaders and politicians. Is it building support for Karzai's government? Will it make any difference for US soldiers? Also, BP cuts a leaking pipe, as the oil slick heads eastward, and wrecking a perfect game.

FROM THIS EPISODE

President Karzai's effort at reaching out to the Taliban may have failed before it began. We update this week's "peace jirga" with 1600 tribal leaders and politicians. Is it building support for Karzai's government? Will it make any difference for US soldiers? Also, BP cuts a leaking pipe, as the oil slick heads eastward, and the 21st perfect game in Major League history won't be in the record books after all.

Banner image: Delegates look on as Afghan President Hamid Karzai delivers a speech to the National Consultive Peace Jirga in Kabul on June 2, 2010. Photo: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images

After six weeks of continuous failures in the Gulf of Mexico, technicians today successfully cut what's called the "riser pipe" that is spewing oil into the ocean. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who's commanding the federal response, called it "a significant step forward" on the part of BP. Bryan Walsh has been covering the ongoing disaster for Time magazine.

Sixteen hundred handpicked delegates, tribal leaders and politicians, agreed today that President Karzai's traditional jirga, is the last chance for peace in Afghanistan. But his effort to reach out to the Taliban has already been met with rockets and suicide bombers, and the jirga includes none of his political opposition. If Karzai's government is too corrupt to earn public confidence, is there a credible alternative? Can more US troops make a difference? We hear different views on the chances of winning one of the longest wars in American history.

In a game against Cleveland yesterday, pitcher Armando Galarraga threw the first perfect game in Detroit Tigers' history – but Jim Joyce took it away. Cleveland batter Jason Donald hit a ground ball to Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who tossed it to pitcher Armando Galarraga, who touched the base before Donald. It should have been the last out of the last inning of Major League Baseball's 21st perfect game, but the umpire called Donald safe. Michael Rosenberg is a sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press.